When it comes to the Detroit Institute of Arts, that’s shaping up to be the hot-button question on the Aug. 7 primary ballot.

The DIA is seeking a 0.2-mill property tax for 10 years from the residents of Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties — similar to the taxes that fund the Detroit Zoo and the suburban bus system SMART.

It’s a question that has its avid supporters and equally avid detractors.

Both sides showed up when Oakland County commissioners, after a spirited public comment session and a split vote, decided to put the tax question on the Aug. 7 ballot.

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The ballot question actually allows the property tax to fund the recently established Art Institute Authority, which would then use the money to support the DIA.

Similar proposals were approved by county commissions in Wayne and Macomb counties, although the Macomb County resolution adds the requirement that the measure also has to pass in Oakland and Wayne counties to take effect in Macomb.

If approved by all three counties, the DIA estimates the tax will generate roughly $10 million in Oakland County, $8 million in Wayne County and $5 million in Macomb County.

The split vote in Oakland County to put the proposal on the Aug. 7 ballot was really a debate over whether voters should decide the issue.

Oakland County board Chairman Mike Gingell, R-Lake Orion, said he believes they should.

“What I say is the people have the right to vote on what they want to be taxed on,” said Gingell. “That’s a democracy. A board of 25 saying what will or won’t be discussed is a dictatorship, in my opinion. Those type of questions should go to the voters.”

Gingell said the board’s decision is consistent with how it has handled similar tax questions for SMART and the Detroit Zoo.

Supporters say the 127-year-old art museum owned by the city of Detroit is one of the region’s cultural gems and should be supported.

The DIA says it no longer receives funding of any kind from the state, city or Wayne County.

“The elimination of all public funding for operations has required the museum to turn almost entirely to the private sector, an operating model that is not sustainable, particularly in the current economy,” said a DIA fact sheet on why it needs the property tax from the three counties.

And the DIA notes a 0.2-mill property tax isn’t that much — $20 a year for the owner of a home with a taxable value of $100,000. Taxable value is generally equal to half the market value of the home.

In an interview with The Oakland Press editorial board, museum officers said their long-term goal is to become self-sufficient, calling the 10-year property tax “a bridge.”

But critics of the tax proposal question whether taxpayers should be funding art museums, zoos and other things. They’ve criticized the state law that allows authorities to be established as funding agents. And they question whether the DIA really needs taxpayer support.

Those critics include some county commissioners and lawmakers, and tea party groups that are trying to fight the tax proposal.

Among the more recent critics is state Rep. Tom McMillin, a Rochester Hills Republican and certified public accountant, who says the DIA is blatantly lying about being broke.

“It’s clear the DIA is lying about being broke and having to close their doors if the tax increase doesn’t pass,” McMillin said recently in a statement he issued. “They have about $100 million in the bank, available for their use.

McMillin said the DIA’s latest audited financial statements from June 30, 2011, show the DIA has $175 million in the bank with about $100 million of it unrestricted for its use, and that the DIA used $2 million of its investments to supplement its $25 million-a-year operations.

“Therefore, the DIA has plenty of money in the bank to keep their doors open for many, many years to come,” McMillin said.

McMillin said the DIA would be required to disclose that it might have to close its doors in footnotes to the financial statements and audit report, and it didn’t.

“Neither did that, because the DIA and the CPA firm knew very well that the DIA is in no danger of closing their doors,” he said.

“It’s bad enough for a nonprofit to come hat in hand, looking for a 10-year, $230-million taxpayer bailout,” McMillin said. “But to flat out lie about why they want to dig into our pockets is beyond troubling. It really harms their reputation. The DIA needs to pull these deceptive ads immediately and apologize to taxpayers.”